Siarhei Kavalenka on hunger-strike again
Activists of the Conservative-Christian Party
Belarusian Popular Front Siarhei Kavalenka resumed his hunger-strike of protest
against the unlawful prison sentence. At present he demands not only a review
of his case, but the liberation of political prisoners and the removal of all
bans on national symbols.
Siarhei was returned to the pre-trial prison in Vitsebsk where provocations
against him had been staged.
According to his wife, Alena Kavalenka, he started hungering as soon as he was
placed there, on 8 May. "I think that he resumed the hunger-strike because
he hasn't been given qualified medical aid. Hunger-strike is the last resort in
defense of one's innocence and dignity. No other chances were left to
him," says the woman.
Siarhei Kavalenka was sentenced to 25 months in prison for violation of the
regime of the personal restraint to which he had been sentenced for hanging out
a white-red-white flag on the main New Year Tree of Vitsebsk on 7 January 2010.
He kept a hunger-strike of protest since the middle of December till the end of
March with a 20-day break, and lost almost 50 kilos of weight as a result.
